Succubus
by L1v
Summary: A demon finds her way to Gojyo and feeds on him. (on a lighter side: this is my first and last Gojyo-ouchie fic! ^^;;)
1. Default Chapter

Succubus - 1 By: Liv  
  
Disclaimer: Kazuya Minekura claims property over Gensomaden Saiyuki. I, on the other hand, claim property over the idea. ( That's all~  
  
*****  
  
When he woke up, he noticed he was with someone else on the bed. Sha Gojyo looked at the body he was hugging and noticed it was the woman he picked up from the mahjongg house. Other than the quilt draped over to them, they had no cloth on.  
  
The door slammed open and someone overly clothed stood by the door frame, obviously in a bad mood. "Get ready, we're leaving."  
  
Gojyo smirked. "Chi, can't a man have his private time?"  
  
"Hm." The blond monk left.  
  
Gojyo sighed and slipped out of bed to get ready.  
  
*****  
  
"Ohayo gozaimasu, Gojyo." Cho Hakkai flashed a smile to the yawning man who came last.  
  
"Ohayo." Gojyo waved lowsily. Upon reaching the boy getting ready to ride on the green vehicle, he held the head and ruffled the brown hair. "Nice seeing you again, saru."  
  
"Naa! Early in the morning!" Son Goku whined and fixed his hair. He waited for the tall man to get into the car before he did so.  
  
"Ikuzo, minna." Hakkai sat on the driver's seat, started the engines and drove off.  
  
Goku held on to Jiipu noticing the monk's bowed head. "Na, Sanzo, why are you in such a bad mood?"  
  
"Already??" Gojyo glanced at his watch-less wrist.  
  
In response to Goku's question, Genjo Sanzo gave a glare to the smiling man beside him.  
  
"Gomen nasai, Sanzo. Did I wake you up too early?" Hakkai's smile never left his face.  
  
"Aa." Gojyo went and pointed behind him. "The sun's just rising." Out of the blue, a bodily noise was heard.  
  
Goku held his stomach. "Na, haraheta desu."  
  
"Chii~ Bakasaru! We just left town and you're already hungry??" Gojyo slapped his forehead.  
  
"Na! It's not my fault, we didn't eat breakfast!"  
  
"Then eat breakfast now, you skinny saru!"  
  
"Teme, Ero Kappa! You should look at the mirror before you tell me that!"  
  
"Oi, oi! These are muscles!" A bright bullet flew in between them causing the two youkais to freeze.  
  
"Yareyare desu ne." Hakkai scratched his head. For a few seconds, there was silence.  
  
"KYU!!!" Suddenly, Jiipu hopped upon encountering a huge rock and he couldn't find his balance any longer. But he still kept going. He bounced and rocked and sometimes leapt and landed roughly.  
  
"Shimata!" Hakkai grabbed tight the stirring wheel. "I can't...stop...the car--"  
  
"Na, Hakkai! Do something!!" Gojyo held on tightly to Jiipu.  
  
"Wa...kari...mashita! Hakuryu! Revert back!"  
  
"Heh?!" Goku went.  
  
"Kyu!"  
  
"Hakkai! Are you seriously serious with this?!"  
  
"Hakka--" But before Sanzo could even finish, the vehicle had lost its geometric form and everyone slid over to the soil roughly. Some tumbled and some rolled.  
  
Hakuryu was back to being a dragon. He lowered himself to the men on the ground. "Kyu?"  
  
"Shikuso..." Sanzo hissed as he sat up. A few more curses were heard from Gojyo as everyone moved to a sit.  
  
"Daijoubu ka, minna?" Hakkai asked.  
  
"Hakkai, that has got to be one of the most stupid things you did!" Gojyo told him.  
  
"Yareyare desu ne," Hakkai scratched his head. "Gomen nasai, minna." He heard a moan from the boy and turned to Goku. "Goku?"  
  
"Naaa..." Goku went. "I feel dizzy..."  
  
"Nonsense." Sanzo grunted as he stood up along with the others.  
  
"How are your bones, Houshi-sama?" Gojyo teased. "Rickety or what?" He immediately raised his hands in surrender when Sanzo threatened him with his harisen.  
  
"Chi! I'll make yours rickety if you don't stop." Sanzo walked over to Hakuryu who transformed into Jiipu again. "Ikuzo."  
  
*****  
  
"Sumimasen, minna!!"  
  
"Barfing saru coming through!!" Gojyo added to Hakkai's announcement as they charged into the residence after a woman had let them in. Goku's arms were rested heavily over their shoulders while he tried hard to cope up with his balance.  
  
By the time Sanzo came inside the home of the baffled people, vomiting noises came from the bathroom.  
  
"Chii~ that disgusting saru!" Gojyo said as he left the room with Hakkai. His head was rested against his crossed arms.  
  
Hakkai turned to the people and bowed. "Gomen nasai, minna."  
  
"Daijoubu desu."  
  
Sanzo turned to the newcomer. She had a long brown hair, a huge lock of hair covering her right eye. She wore a yellow oriental dress and had a huge opal earring hanging on her right ear.  
  
*An opal earring...what could that be for...?*  
  
Hakkai turned to the newcomer and bowed once more. "Arigatou gozaimasu, oneesan."  
  
"Dou itashimashite." The woman bowed back and turned to a table with a pile of letters. She opened the drawer and took out a blade and a letter.  
  
"Na, what do you do around here?" Gojyo approached the woman, his hands in his pocket. "You seem to have a lot of people living inside this house."  
  
"Otoosan owns a relic shop." She smiled at Gojyo while opening the letters. "So you work?"  
  
"Hai." She nodded.  
  
"Do you have work later night?"  
  
"Nai."  
  
"So, you're free?"  
  
The woman laughed and turned around to a smiling half-youkai. "Why so many questions?"  
  
"Can I ask you out?"  
  
The woman blinked. Without hesitation however, she nodded. "Hai. I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind."  
  
Gojyo still had that smile on. "Nani mo da?"  
  
"Liu Chang...Liu Chang desu."  
  
"Ore wa Sha Gojyo desu."  
  
"Sou ka, hajime mashite, Gojyo-san." Liu Chang bowed. "Anou...I'll go ahead and look for clothes to wear."  
  
"In the meantime, I'll wait for you." Gojyo watched the woman climb up to her room.  
  
*Everything...looks so scripted.*  
  
"Sanzo?"  
  
*Have we fallen into another trap...?*  
  
"Sanzo,"  
  
Sanzo turned to Hakkai who was on his right.  
  
"Daijoubu ka?"  
  
"Aa." Sanzo looked at where the woman had gone.  
  
"Nandesuka?"  
  
Sanzo took a step forward for balance upon feeling Gojyo's weight on his shoulders. He turned to the man.  
  
"Bouzu-sama is suspicious again? You're getting older than I thought, Sanzo."  
  
"Chi! It's not like I'd care if you die now." Sanzo pushed Gojyo away from him.  
  
"Eh?" Gojyo blinked.  
  
"Something is terribly wrong. Something I can't put my finger on." Sanzo turned to the stairs again. "Something about her."  
  
"Gojyo," Hakkai saw Gojyo turn to him. "Kyosukete kudasai. Sanzo sounds serious."  
  
Gojyo sighed and pocketed his hands. "Hai, hai! If it makes you feel better, Hakkai."  
  
Hakkai wasn't contented with Gojyo's answer. But he had no choice but to be. "Onegaishitemasu...Gojyo."  
  
"Naaaaa!" Goku stumbled out of the bathroom. "Ore wa haraheta desu!"  
  
"Bakasaru! You just vommited!"  
  
"Ne, Gojyo! That sounds so vulgar!"  
  
"It's the truth!"  
  
"Sanzo~"  
  
"Uruse! Kono BAKAsaru, you're too noisy."  
  
"Naaa! Sanzo!! Let's look for a restaurant! Sanzo!!"  
  
"Uruse! ...Ikuzo."  
  
"Waii~"  
  
*****  
  
"Otoosan used to teach me how to play mahjongg. Oniichan taught me all the techniques. So, I was pretty good on mahjongg. Demo, that was a long, long time ago." Liu Chang related. They were eating in a nearby mahjongg house Liu Chang recommended.  
  
"You seem to have a big family." Gojyo observed.  
  
Liu Chang laughed and nodded. "We need more hands." She felt someone grab her right arm and pull her to a stand. She shrieked surprised of a huge man's actions.  
  
He was nauseatic and obviously drunk. "Oi, oi, dance for me, will ya??"  
  
While Liu Chang shouted 'Yamete!', Gojyo simply lit a cigarette. He puffed once and pressed the lit end of the stick against the man's skin. "Oi."  
  
Liu Chang dropped to a seat as the huge drunkard shouted in pain and started saying something she couldn't understand.  
  
Gojyo returned the cigarette stick back to his mouth and mimicked a talkative man with his hand. "Urusai, you talk so much. Women won't like you."  
  
"Nani?!?" The man glared at Gojyo. With a loud cry, he threw a punch over to Gojyo.  
  
Calmly, Gojyo stood away from his chair watching the table turn to smithereens. He turned to the seated woman. "Daijoubu ka, Liu Chang?" He saw her nod. He turned to the drunkard and smashed his foot over to his back heavily sending the drunkard down. "Oi, go get some diet." He smiled at Liu Chang. "Ikuzo. This place has turned chaotic."  
  
"Anou...hai." Liu Chang stood up and walked beside Gojyo. She stopped and turned to the standing man and returned to walking.  
  
Gojyo was to leave the mahjongg house when he heard someone call him at the back. When he turned around, he felt his skin being cut open five times near his shoulder. He shouted loudly in pain and fell back sliding downwards the wall while Liu Chang shrieked for him and covered his wound with her hands. Pain was etched on his face. His eyes opened to a glare. "Teme!!!" He grabbed a chair and threw it over to the huge man knocking it out and letting it drop heavily down the floor.  
  
Silence enveloped the mahjongg house.  
  
Liu Chang looked around, uneasy of the silence. "I, ikuzo, Gojyo-san." She helped him stand up ignoring the blood on her hand and left with him.  
  
*****  
  
"Itaiii..." Gojyo hissed. He was in an alley where Liu Chang wrapped his wound with a clean strip of cloth she tore from her outfit.  
  
The blood was still on Liu Chang's hand. "Daijoubu desuka, Gojyo-san?"  
  
"Better." Gojyo tried to move his shoulders but it hurt. "So much for our date." He turned to Liu Chang. "You have to go?"  
  
Liu Chang nodded. "Aa."  
  
"Then, I'll walk you home." Gojyo offered.  
  
Liu Chang smiled and nodded again. "Arigatou gozaimasu, Gojyo-san."  
  
*****  
  
Liu Chang watched Gojyo leave from the window of her room in the topmost level, her hands still stained with blood. When Gojyo was gone, she slowly lifted the hand to her lips...and licked the blood.  
  
- End of Part 1 - 


	2. Succubus 2

Succubus - 2 By: Liv  
  
Disclaimer: Gensomaden Saiyuki belongs to Kazuya Minekura.  
  
*****  
  
Goku yawned, stretching his arms up as he walked over to Jiipu.. "Na! How long are we going to travel today, Hakkai?"  
  
"Pretty far." Hakkai entered Jiipu. "We'll be eating lunch on the road."  
  
Goku shrugged and leapt onto Jiipu. It didn't matter where he would eat, as long as he WOULD eat. He turned and called. "Oi, Ero Kappa! Hayaku!"  
  
"Teme, saru. I'm not in a good mood." Gojyo approached Jiipu last and sat beside Goku.  
  
"Didn't get a good sleep, Gojyo?" Hakkai smiled at the man.  
  
Gojyo twitched a smile. "More likely a restless one. But I had a wonderful dream."  
  
Goku showed disgust upon seeing the tired smile. "Ewww, Eroooooo~"  
  
"I never thought sleeping with women in reality feels the same as sleeping with women in dreams. It felt so real." Gojyo enjoyed Goku's disgusted noises. The attempt to annoy the boy was successful.  
  
"Is everyone ready?" Hakkai turned to Sanzo who was looking at the town. "Sanzo?"  
  
"Nani?" Sanzo turned to Hakkai interrupted from his thoughts. He saw the smile and returned to looking back at the town while Hakkai started the engines and drove off.  
  
They were going to leave the town, a mystery unsolved. Whether or not they can rest peacefully, Sanzo doesn't know.  
  
And whether or not there IS a mystery...Sanzo doesn't know...  
  
*****  
  
Jiipu stayed put beside a shop. It was afternoon.  
  
"Yareyare desu ne, Gojyo." Hakkai left the building carrying a bag of goodies. He smiled at the man leaning against the wall. "I saw a lot of women inside, buying. I thought you might be--Gojyo?" He blinked.  
  
Gojyo looked weak. He leaned heavily against the wall, eyes closed and chest going up and down faster than usual.  
  
"Gojyo, are you having a hard time breathing?" Hakkai hurriedly settled the bag of groceries in Jiipu and came to Gojyo's aide, listening to him pant.  
  
"I feel dizzy...demo, lying on the saru's lap disgusts me." Gojyo gave Hakkai a tired look. "Soshite, my body hurts all over. It started from the wound."  
  
"The wound?" Hakkai blinked. "Demo, I closed this last night." He held the wound lightly and heard Gojyo hiss and saw him move. He retrieved his hand before Gojyo could anymore be hurt. "Gojyo?"  
  
Gojyo wanted to grab the wall to ease the pain his face so visibly shows.  
  
"Daijoubu ka, Gojyo?" Hakkai moved to hold Gojyo's forehead but the red- haired man slapped his hand away causing him confusion.  
  
"Don't." Gojyo said. "It, itai yo...desuka...!"  
  
"Itai...?!" Hakkai gasped. He turned to see Sanzo and Goku leaving the shop. "Minna--"  
  
"Ikuzo." Sanzo said and headed off to Jiipu with Goku following him while carrying another bag of goods.  
  
Gojyo smirked despite his pain. "Sanzo-sama, sounds like he needs excretion badly."  
  
Annoyed, Sanzo revealed his harisen and hit it on Gojyo's head, not in the mood for a full-force slam.  
  
However, Gojyo's knees had weaken from the hit and he had fallen down the ground heavily, face first.  
  
"Gojyo!!" Hakkai called.  
  
"Na, Sanzo! That was strong!" Goku turned to the surprised monk.  
  
"Iiya...I didn't even smash it on him..." Either way, Sanzo knew Gojyo wouldn't completely fall like that. *Nani...kore?* He was baffled.  
  
"Daijobu desuka?!" Hakkai assisted Gojyo to a stand who used the half-blind man as support.  
  
"Shimata," Gojyo uttered. "Stop me--" He felt he had completely lost control over his right fist and swerved it over to the monk sending the latter flying backwards.  
  
"Sanzo!!" Goku called. He glared at Gojyo. "Teme! Kono Ero Kappa--eh?" He was about to attack when he saw Gojyo's hand on Hakkai tremble. "Na! Gojyo!"  
  
What happened from that time on didn't register in Gojyo's mind. He gave up on his little hold on reality and succumbed into the darkness with Hakkai's call being the last thing he could remember.  
  
*****  
  
He felt as if he was in a vacuum. He felt so cold...as if he was dying. He was bare...nothing covered him. He felt warmth literally embrace him when arms were wrapped around him.  
  
"You are...mine...!"  
  
Even after this had been said, no reaction whatsoever came from Gojyo.  
  
*****  
  
Gojyo woke up, slowly opening his eyes. Everything came into his mind slowly. Comfort and warmth entered his body and soon he knew he was on a bed. Everything was silent and it was really cold. No light entered the room other than that from outside the window. It was then that he noticed it was night.  
  
Turning to his right, Gojyo found a mass of black hair. Immediately, he knew who was sleeping beside him. "Ha...kkai..."  
  
Hakkai woke up with weary eyes on Gojyo. He lifted his head showing a red mark on his forehead told Gojyo how long it had been pressed on his right arm while he was seated on a wooden chair. He didn't have any monocle on, making his eyes look a bit smaller when he smiled faintly. "Yokatta, Gojyo." He whispered.  
  
"What...happened...?" Gojyo was able to utter. Though he felt he lost a pound of strength after saying those words.  
  
Hakkai sat straight and didn't even bother to take his monocle, which was beside Gojyo. "You just fainted this afternoon. Sanzo had a hard time moving his jaw after you punched him."  
  
"Punch...?" Gojyo gave a tired weirded out look. "Did I...?" He couldn't even finish the sentence.  
  
Hakkai sighed. "You have a high fever, Gojyo." He placed his hand over Gojyo's bare forehead. Usually, his skin would be noticeably whiter than Gojyo's tanned one. But now, the difference seemed to have decreased. "It hasn't gone down ever since the afternoon." He removed his hand.  
  
Gojyo closed his eyes for a moment and opened them again. His wine red eyes didn't look as warm as they once did. "What time is it?"  
  
"Pass midnight desu."  
  
Gojyo closed his eyes again. He needed rest...badly. "Can you get me another quilt?" He listened to Hakkai's soft movements. Next thing he knew, another layer of warmth covered him.  
  
But it wasn't enough to keep the cold from getting to him. He felt as if it was inside.  
  
He had no intention of telling Hakkai about it. *Can't get this guy to worry about me...and it's uncool...*  
  
"San...kyu..." Gojyo made himself comfortable as best as he could. Though he couldn't move his body much because of the pain shooting right through all his limbs. They all burned and felt very sensitive.  
  
Hakkai wore a worried look. The gleam his eyes have whenever he smiles wasn't visible, anymore.  
  
"Get some sleep, Hakkai." Gojyo closed his eyes.  
  
"After you, Gojyo." Hakkai faked a calm smile. Still, the gleam wasn't there.  
  
"Kuso...stop acting like my brother."  
  
"Iya...just returning what you did to me 3 years ago."  
  
Gojyo smirked moodlessly. "Chi." Finally, he had fallen to sleep.  
  
The smile faded from Hakkai's lips. "Oyasumi nasai." He whispered.  
  
He needed to get out of this room.  
  
*****  
  
Hakkai silently closed the door to Gojyo's room and turned around. He jumped when he saw the smoking blond man leaning against the railings of the inn's balcony. "S, Sanzo..."  
  
"How is he?" Sanzo flipped close his lighter. His robes were down, but he didn't feel chilly like Goku, who complained to him about the inn having thin sheets for quilt.  
  
Hakkai sighed looking at the floor. "He hasn't been better..." He looked at Sanzo who seemed indifferent. "How long do you think--"  
  
"I don't like to jump into conclusions now. I don't want to get your hopes up." Sanzo stood from the railings and approached Hakkai. "You're a dangerous man when it comes to that cockroach. If I say anything, I might get your hopes up. It's annoying."  
  
Hakkai wasn't able to say anything. What Sanzo said, everything was sadly true.  
  
"Chi, damned cockroach." Sanzo tossed the cigarette stick down and stepped on the lit part and crushed it, killing the flame. "Get some sleep, Hakkai. We have a long trip later."  
  
"Demo, Sanzo--" Hakkai immediately turned to protest to the man but the monk wore a face that accepts no buts. He sighed and nodded. "Hai." He watched Sanzo open the door and close it behind him. He stood there for a couple more seconds.then he left to join Goku in his room.  
  
*****  
  
Sanzo sat on the chair Hakkai once occupied and studied Gojyo's still face. He hated to admit it...but he felt uneasy. He saw Hakkai's monocle left beside Gojyo. *Everyone is uneasy.* He thought. He knew how Goku and Hakkai weren't expecting him to agree with the nightshift. He had to get deeper into this matter.that's why.  
  
It was strange, how Sanzo felt like he had to act according to what some storyteller is saying. Everything seems to be planned. He wanted to shoot whoever it was but who?  
  
Sanzo reached for Gojyo's wrist and checked for the pulse. *A weak heart beat...what could have gotten to him?* He dropped it to the bed. *How he dropped after I smacked him and how he threw his fist at me...it was nothing normal. The strength he used for the punch wasn't his.*  
  
*And what he uttered...'Stop me'...*  
  
*Could someone be controlling him...and us for that matter?*  
  
"Chi! How annoying." Sanzo muttered. How annoying indeed that someone is moving him against his free will. *That someone could be using Gojyo to lure all of us into our deaths.* He felt as if his life depended on Gojyo's survival.  
  
It annoys him even more.  
  
*Shikuso.*  
  
*****  
  
Warmth shone on his face when he woke up. It was early morning. Gojyo's body was stiff, but what could he do? He had little strength on the night. Turning to his right, he was surprised to see who was sitting beside him with crossed arms, a bowed head and closed eyes. "Sanzo?"  
  
Sanzo opened his eyes waking from his little nap when he heard Gojyo and looked to him.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"Nightshift." Sanzo said a-matter-of-factly.  
  
"Hontou ni?" Gojyo felt his strength slowly coming back. "I don't believe you. I bet there's something else." He grinned tiredly.  
  
"That's asking how you are."  
  
"I'm better, thank you." Gojyo kidded along. He watched Sanzo stand and head off.  
  
"Ikuzo." Sanzo opened the door and left, leaving the door open for Gojyo.  
  
Gojyo smirked. "Chi...shimata, now?" Slowly, he stood up and got ready.  
  
*****  
  
"Sanzo!" Hakkai walked over to the driver's seat in Jiipu just to get close to Sanzo while he argued. But he wasn't going to sit down until the monk convinces him. "I don't agree with the idea of continuing this journey while Gojyo just woke up from a high fever yesterday!"  
  
"He's fine. I don't see why we should stay any longer." Sanzo stepped into Jiipu and sat down.  
  
"Demo, Sanzo!"  
  
"Dismissed!" Sanzo gave Hakkai a stern look. "...ikuzo." He faced front waiting for Hakkai to get on.  
  
Hakkai wanted to protest still but nothing will seem to work. He looked at Goku hoping the boy could help him but the boy himself was clueless of what was happening.  
  
"Daijoubu, Hakkai." Gojyo rested his heavy arm around Hakkai's shoulders. "I won't die." He winked with a smile.  
  
Hakkai wasn't sure...but he has to content himself with Gojyo's statement...again. His lips spread to a fake small smile. "Wakarimashita."  
  
Soon, everyone was on Jiipu and they were moving. That was the time Gojyo let go of his shell and fell back to his weakness. Truth be told, he wasn't feeling any better...in fact he felt worse.  
  
He breathed slowly hoping no one would notice it. Goku was asking Sanzo for food and the latter was entertaining him. Hakkai was concentrated on driving. *Good... *  
  
The burning feeling on Gojyo's skin came back. He felt dizzy and wanted his head to throb it away. Or maybe explode. The fever was coming back and he felt very hot and dehydrated.  
  
Why had it not shown awhile ago?  
  
This sudden illness had been bothering him. Sometimes, it scared him but he shoved the fear away.  
  
But there was another that he had been wondering about. This woman he had been dreaming of for two nights. He doesn't know who she is. But he was sure, she was the one who he dreamt of the other day, and the one he dreamt about sleeping with again just this night.  
  
Gojyo's hand immediately grabbed on his stomach and squeezed it when a sudden pain attacked. He shut his eyes close and gritted his teeth.  
  
This had been going on for two days already...ever since he had dreamt of that unknown woman.  
  
He felt as if something was slowly eating him from inside...  
  
- End of Part 2 - 


	3. Succubus 3

Succubus - 3 By: Liv  
  
Disclaimer: I own Gensomaden Saiyuki...in my dreams.  
  
*****  
  
It had been hours of silence ever since the group left the town this morning. Hakkai could not occupy himself with driving. Gojyo's condition was driving him nuts! "Goku?" He finally spoke which almost startled the boy.  
  
"Hai?" Goku went.  
  
"Could you check on Gojyo?" Hakkai hoped Sanzo wouldn't groan or get sick of him and his worries about Gojyo. He thought he had every reason to be. And so does Sanzo.  
  
Goku turned to the man to his right and leaned close to Hakkai. "Na, he's sleeping."  
  
Hakkai sighed in relief. "Yokatta, at least he's resting." He turned to Sanzo. "Maybe we shouldn't have dragged Gojyo out of bed--"  
  
"Iiya."  
  
"Demo, Sanzo! Gojyo wa--"  
  
"Wakarimashita." Sanzo lowered his head to light a cigarette.  
  
Suddenly, Hakkai couldn't say anything. He had not expected Sanzo to say that.  
  
Sanzo kept his lighter and faced Hakkai. "There's a possibility that Gojyo's fever would come back. But if we stay in that town, nothing is going to happen. We won't know what's wrong with him. Surely you understand that this isn't any kind of fever."  
  
Hakkai was silent still. But soon, he spoke. "I find your point...demo...that's selfish...!"  
  
"Death is never selfish. Just as how God saves no one." Sanzo looked in front of him. "Neither chooses who dies, who lives and who is saved."  
  
When Sanzo said that, Goku found himself looking at Sanzo. His head turned to the sleeping half-youkai. He felt Jiipu pull to a stop and turned to Hakkai. "Na! Why did we stop?" He looked forward to see why.  
  
"Yareyare desu ne, we've reached a rocky forest." Hakkai faced Goku dismissing the thought of his and Sanzo's conversation awhile ago. "Can you wake Gojyo up?"  
  
"Anou...hai." Goku crawled over to Gojyo and nudged him. "Na, Gojyo! Mezame!" His response was a groan.  
  
Gojyo's eyes opened and squinted as he sat properly. "Doushite?"  
  
Hakkai faced the man. "We've reached a rocky road. We'll have to walk."  
  
*****  
  
Other than the sounds of the forest and their footsteps, there was the sound of a backpack being dragged by the monk.  
  
"Ne, Sanzo. I think it's best that you carry that thing, ne?" Hakkai had on another one of his smiles. He himself was carrying a backpack.  
  
"Chi!" Sanzo ignored Hakkai's advice and continued to drag the backpack as he lead the way.  
  
"Na~ Sanzo~" Goku spoke up, his arms crossed behind his head. "You DID get the lowest card."  
  
"Don't be so cocky, namagusa bouzu." Gojyo was walking casually, his hands in his pockets. "Don't tell me this is your first time to carry something like that? Or are your bones to weak already, Ojisan Bouzu?"  
  
"Urusai." Sanzo muttered.  
  
"Ne, Gojyo." Hakkai smiled at the man who faced him. "You look okay now."  
  
"Minor hangover," Gojyo replied. "Demo, I got my health back." He stopped when Sanzo did.  
  
Sanzo turned to face Gojyo. "Then carry this bag."  
  
"Matte!" Goku found everyone look at him as he sniffed the air.  
  
"Incoming!" Hakkai dropped the backpack and grouped closer with his companions as youkais started leaping out of their hiding places behind the trees. Soon, forest bandits were around them, snickering.  
  
What looked like the leader stepped closer to Sanzo and offered his hand. "We'll carry that bag for you."  
  
Sanzo smiled mischievously. "Fine." He tossed the backpack over to the leader who caught it but fell heavily. When the leader was down, Sanzo had already wielded his gun. He started shooting at the demons, five of which have diminished from his bullets.  
  
The leader tried to push the bag off him when a shadow was casted over him. He wailed in fear.  
  
"It's heavy, ne?" Hakkai smiled at the youkai before he kicked the bag off and threw a Chi Gong to the youkai who let out his final cry.  
  
Goku and Gojyo were handling the rest of the demons. When Gojyo had retrieved the chain blade he swung off and slashed three youkais in a row, he turned around to see a youkai coming to attack Goku who was handling Gojyo's supposed surprise attackers. "Saru! Heads up!"  
  
Goku threw off the demons he was handling and ducked just in time to send Gojyo to the ground after the latter was smacked and kicked.  
  
"Shimata!" Gojyo got up with his weapon. "Teme!!" He threw the chain blade over to his attacker and killed him.  
  
Goku stood up and approached the center where the party regrouped.  
  
Sanzo looked at everyone before he turned and left. "Ikuzo."  
  
Gojyo turned to see Hakkai pick up the backpack he once carried. He smirked and shook his head, bending to take the backpack Sanzo once dragged. "So I have to carry this thing, eh?" When he had already grabbed hold of the backpack, he felt numb and suddenly dizzy. He stayed still as he saw a vision of him hugging a woman, both of them uncovered. *It's...it's her again...* He felt slowly being drained and the numbing feeling was growing. Everything he felt on the pass few days came back.  
  
"Gojyo?" Hakkai's voice was wavy, his eyes wide. This was what he had feared of.  
  
"Gojyo!!" Sanzo heard them call and turned around to see Gojyo slamming against a tree and gritting his teeth, his eyes shut. He was grabbing his chest as he slid down to a sitting position.  
  
"I..." Gojyo gasped for the little air he could get. "I can't breathe..." He had the hardest time saying it.  
  
Goku turned upon hearing Sanzo's footsteps to see him jogging. "Sanzo!"  
  
The vision he saw kept on coming back. He wanted it to wave it off but he had no strength. Losing to his pain, he coughed off blood and dropped to the soil on his side, panting.  
  
Hakkai's fear grew. "Sh, shimata...!" He whispered.  
  
"Na! He's pale!!" Goku approached the panting youkai. "Gojyo!!"  
  
Gojyo half-opened his eyes responding to the boy's call. 'Kill him!' He heard someone tell him. He wasn't about to, but numbness had completely overtaken his right arm. He could only watch it zoom towards Goku's neck and squeeze it.  
  
"Gojyo--" Goku shut his eyes close and gritted his teeth while his hands grabbed on the strangling hand.  
  
"Gojyo!" Hakkai called. "Gojyo, yamete!!"  
  
Gojyo heard the voice repeating itself. "Why...why should I...?" With the little strength he had, he opened his hands hoping the boy would drop away from his grasp but he lost again and his hand clamped back on Goku's neck tightly.  
  
"Gojyo!!!"  
  
Goku couldn't even cough anymore. He was losing air, his eyesight dimmed and the world was spinning faster.  
  
Sanzo took his gun and moved to hit Gojyo with it when the latter had dropped the boy and fainted again.  
  
Goku dropped to a sit and coughed. He felt his blood rushing in his veins and felt hot while he held his neck and his chest. He felt Hakkai behind him and couldn't make out the words while he was gasping for air. But he was sure Hakkai was asking him how he is. Either way, he couldn't answer.  
  
Sanzo knelt beside Gojyo, looking at his right hand. *The same hand that punched me...* He also remembered what Gojyo uttered.  
  
'Why...why should I...?'  
  
*And how he tried to loosen the grip...it was the same as yesterday...when he wanted someone to stop him.*  
  
*****  
  
Gojyo's eyes opened from his long sleep. He felt the softness of the bed he was lying on. He looked around the room, everything was the same. He was there again, with only a quilt to cover him. He heard footsteps and saw who was coming. "L, Liu Chang...?" He sat up, surprised to see the woman unashamed by her nakedness.  
  
"I can't wait any longer, Gojyo." Liu Chang sat in front of Gojyo and embraced him, pressing her body against his so she could seduce him to sleep with her. "I need.you...want...you..." She whispered, her voice in a pleading tone.  
  
Gojyo embraced the woman back. "I...I don't understand...!" He gasped. Everything was the same. The bed, the room...even the woman. *Masaka! Could Liu Chang be...?* He was to push her way when he felt Liu Chang's lips on his shoulder. Pain shot through his body making him squeeze Liu Chang tighter to ease it.  
  
But nothing was happening.  
  
*****  
  
Goku sat in front of the gas lantern inside the tent. He was in an Indian seat, his elbows on each knee and his head rested on his hands.  
  
Hakkai was busy petting a drowsy Hakuryu. He was the one closest to the sleeping Gojyo. He heard the half-youkai cough and turned to him.  
  
Goku did, too. His eyes widened when he saw blood drip out of Gojyo's mouth. "Shimata!"  
  
"Gojyo!" Hakkai pushed Hakuryu away, who had flown, and crawled over to the man who continued to cough.  
  
"Kyuu!!" Hakuryu called the man as well.  
  
"Hakkai," Hakkai turned to the monk who had his robes down. "Check his breathing." Hakkai nodded and placed his hand over Gojyo's mouth. He almost felt nothing. His heart began to beat fast as he took off his monocle and placed it in front of Gojyo's nose. He expected a thicker fog but there was almost none.  
  
"He's dying!!" Goku called.  
  
"Gojyo, wake up!!!" Hakkai had almost lost his pitch as he shouted at the coughing man.  
  
Sanzo stepped backwards. He brought up his robes again and wore his sutra. He clasped his hands in prayer and closed his eyes chanting for the purification of evil.  
  
Goku turned to the glowing violet light and watched the sutras flying.  
  
"Makai!" Sanzo opened his eyes. "Tenjo!!!" He called casting one of his hand to Gojyo who the sutra has entwined making him let out a cry of pain.  
  
*****  
  
Liu Chang let out a painful cry and let go of Gojyo and disappeared.  
  
Gojyo dropped back to his bed and panted heavily.  
  
*****  
  
Gojyo's face was still again. But he was panting, and his skin color was almost like Goku's or Hakkai's.  
  
Sanzo knelt beside Gojyo. "He's alive."  
  
Hakkai dropped to a sit and covered his hand with trembling hands and cold fingertips. He felt Hakuryu land on his foot and 'kyu'. "W, what's...h, happening to him, m...?" His voice shook, so did his open mouth.  
  
"Someone is using him." Sanzo saw Goku and Hakkai turn to him. "More so, someone is living inside him."  
  
"Living...?"  
  
"A vampiric youkai."  
  
"Heh??" Goku blurted out. "There's such a thing??"  
  
"Youkais aren't just morons who massacre people. There's a lot more of them out there." Sanzo turned to Goku. "Like the 100-Eyed Devil who feeds on women. This youkai that infested Gojyo," He looked at the calming man. "Can also be called a parasitic demon." He took a cigarette stick and his lighter. "It's just bad luck that we came across her." He lit his cigarette and kept the lighter.  
  
"Her? Na, Sanzo! Who 'her'?"  
  
Sanzo faced front. "Liu Chang."  
  
*Liu Chang?!* Hakkai gasped. He remembered what Sanzo said.  
  
'Something is terribly wrong. Something I can't put my finger on.'  
  
*Could it be...?*  
  
"I'm not jumping to conclusions." Sanzo cleared. "I'm just suspecting."  
  
Hakkai looked at Gojyo.  
  
*****  
  
She sat on the corner of her dim room, her opal earring smashed to bits beside her. *Time is running out...he must give me his blood soon...* Her claw held on her enlarged abdomen and smoothed it. *His taboo blood will make my baby and I a ferocious demon...one who will finish you off...Genjo Sanzo...* She smiled evilly and laughed as she continued to smooth her womb.  
  
*****  
  
Gojyo heard the door open and turned to see Liu Chang approaching him again. But she was different this time. She no longer was human. "O, omae wa..." Fear slowly crept over to him.  
  
"Your blood...give me your blood..." Liu Chang climbed on top of him and held his shoulders from any movement.  
  
"Sh, shimata...!"  
  
"Give it to me...I want it...need it..." She was growing more desperate each second that passes. "Now!!" She shouted as she leaned over to Gojyo's shoulder and bit it.  
  
*****  
  
Gojyo shouted in pain and woke up, panting.  
  
"Na, nani?" Goku woke up along with the others and rubbed his eye.  
  
"Gahk!" Gojyo's left hand moved to his shoulder as he felt pain on it.  
  
"Gojyo?" Goku turned to the man. His eyes enlarged "Na! You're bleeding!!"  
  
Gojyo slowly moved his hand away from his shoulder and saw his blood on it. His hand trembled as his eyes grew in fear. "Shimata...it's true...?!"  
  
"What IS true?!" Hakkai came to Gojyo's aide. "Gojyo!!"  
  
"Th, the dream! Liu Chang...kono kisama--Urk...!" Gojyo held on his shoulder again and was to fall back if Hakkai had not caught him. He felt his blood slowly being drained away. The numbness returned and so did the fever and dizziness.  
  
Sanzo was just watching Gojyo from his side of the tent, unbothered. Suddenly, he felt something and threw off his cover and rushed out of the tent.  
  
"Sanzo?" Goku turned. "Sanzo!" He stood up and followed. When he was outside, he saw Sanzo already casting his gun on a familiar woman. "L, Liu Chang?!"  
  
Liu Chang was pregnant and teal-skinned, an insane grin on her face.  
  
"I was right, Liu Chang was behind this." Sanzo cocked his gun. "And the baby inside her womb...is a demon...a taboo."  
  
"Taboo?!" Goku exclaimed.  
  
"Sayonara, Genjo Sanzo." Liu Chang's forehead formed a cut that went all the way to the middle of her womb. She did no movement as her skin hardened. Then it broke and revealed a shikigami that rooted itself to the soil and grew bigger. On top of it was Liu Chang's upper body and a demonic baby's sprouting out of her womb.  
  
"N, na!" Goku summoned his nyoibou. "This has GOT to be the BIGGEST shikigami I've ever seen!!"  
  
"Chi! Your impudent show is useless!" Sanzo called readjusting his gun's range to shoot Liu Chang. "You're going to die, anyway!"  
  
Liu Chang laughed. "What makes you think you can still kill me, Genjo Sanzo?! Why, I could just smash you with my right hand!" She extended her arm as it grew longer quickly for a heavy fall on Sanzo.  
  
"Sanzo!!" Goku called and leapt backwards.  
  
Sanzo hopped away from the hand. The soil exploded and it traveled towards the tent from underneath.  
  
*****  
  
Hakkai was getting frustrated while he tried to close Gojyo's wound. No matter how long he had been doing it, nothing was happening.  
  
Hakuryu turned to see something crawling underground. "Kyuu!!!"  
  
"Nandesuka?" Hakkai was interrupted as he saw the crawling thing rise behind him. He gasped upon the sight of a huge hand. It grabbed Hakkai and threw him away from Gojyo along with the tent.  
  
"Gahhhh!!!" Hakkai flew to a tree and slammed against it hard causing a dent on it.  
  
Gojyo turned ignoring his weakness. "H, Hakkai!!"  
  
"Kyuu!!"  
  
Gojyo looked above him to see the hand ready to grab him. When it moved over to him, he saw Hakuryu fly in between them and blow fire that burned pass the hand and the whole of it. A hoarse, loud cry of pain was heard. The hand's ashes crumbled to the ground.  
  
Hakkai grunted as he tried to stand up. He saw the whole of the shikigami and Goku leaping, ready for an attack.  
  
"Teme!!!" Goku shouted and slammed his nyoibou hard on the shikigami's chest. But instead of the growl he expected, what he had in response was Gojyo's cry.  
  
"Nani?" Sanzo turned to the man who grabbed his chest.  
  
"Gojyo!" Hakkai did his best to ignore the pain on his back. He jogged towards Gojyo and knelt behind the man.  
  
The shikigami laughed once more. "The taboo child and I are bonded. If I die, he dies along with me."  
  
"Masaka!" Goku shouted.  
  
"It is the creation of the taboo blood he had shared with me. The blood that is from the wound on his shoulder."  
  
"Taboo blood?!" Hakkai exclaimed. *Sou ka...she feeds on the blood of taboo children.*  
  
*' It is the creation of the taboo blood he had shared with me...The blood that is from the wound on his shoulder'...he had returned with a bandaged wound after their date. After that, Gojyo started weakening.*  
  
"Hakkai!" Sanzo turned to the man. "Kill the demon attached to the shikigami."  
  
"Demo, Gojyo--" Hakkai protested.  
  
Sanzo casted his gun on Gojyo. "Then you might as well go with him, you damned shikigami."  
  
"Sanzo!!" Hakkai and Goku called.  
  
"Kono...Bakabouzu!" Gojyo grunted. "What the hell...are you thinking...?!"  
  
The shikigami laughed. "Are you seriously going to do it?"  
  
"Hm! It's not like I care for him." Sanzo pulled the trigger sending his bullet over to Gojyo's shoulder.  
  
The shikigami cried in pain in chorus with Gojyo, its head thrown backward.  
  
Gojyo felt the numbness go away. By this, he knew Liu Chang had lost her control on him.  
  
Sanzo turned to the monocled man. "Hakkai!"  
  
"Wakarimashita!" Hakkai stood creating a Chi Gong and threw it to the baby that diminished from the shikigami's body with a hoarse cry.  
  
"Now's my turn! Stretch out, nyoibou~" Goku ran over to the shikigami and leapt with an elongated staff. With a battle cry, he slammed his staff to Liu Chang's cheek, distorting the demon's face and causing it to bleed heavily.  
  
Hakkai heard something metallic move beside him and turned to see Gojyo running over to Liu Chang. "Gojyo!"  
  
"Shine!!!" Gojyo swung off his chain blade sending it to tear pass Liu Chang's chest causing her to diminish with her death cry.  
  
After which, he had fainted again.  
  
"Gojyo!" Hakkai rushed towards the man. He knelt beside him and placed his hand over the wounded shoulder. A green glow shined under his palms.  
  
Goku approached Sanzo who was watching Hakkai's miraculous act. "Na, Sanzo...do you think..."  
  
"Iiya, cockroaches don't die easily." Sanzo took his cigarette pack and bit the last one off with his lip. He took his lighter and lit the stick. Upon keeping it, he looked at the sky while his other hand crushed the empty pack. "Go look for a new campsite, Goku."  
  
"Hai! Hakuryu, ikuzo!" Goku heard the dragon's 'kyu~' and jogged off with him.  
  
Hakkai removed his hand from Gojyo's shoulder and placed it on his lap. "Now...I guess all we can do is wait..."  
  
*****  
  
After the longest sleep he had probably had...he had finally awoken. Gojyo opened his eyes and blinked a number of times. The first thing he saw was the white roof. "Are?" Two faces came in front of him. One was the boy's and the other was his monocled friend's. "Gojyo!" They both called.  
  
"Wai! Yokatta, Gojyo!" Goku smiled widely.  
  
"Okaeri nasai, Gojyo." Hakkai smiled as well, relief can be easily read from his face. The gleam on his eye whenever he smiles is back.  
  
Gojyo smirked. "I was that terrible, eh?"  
  
*****  
  
"Hontou ni?! Asleep for a week?!" Gojyo exclaimed while following Hakkai towards Jiipu.  
  
"Daijoubu, Gojyo. You had to get your blood back." Hakkai wore a smaller smile. "And your color, too."  
  
"Chi, I kind of missed my tan." Gojyo looked at his skin with a proud smile.  
  
"Naa~ you scared Hakkai to death, Ero Kappa." Goku approached his side of Jiipu.  
  
Gojyo felt a vein pop near his temple. "Watch your mouth, saru. You should remember I got my strength back. Dakara...I can do THIS to you!" He pushed Goku down to the iron floor.  
  
"Na!!" Goku landed face first and glared at Gojyo as the man took his place. "Teme, Kono Ero Kappa!!" He waved his fist.  
  
Hakkai laughed as he settled on the driver's seat. "Don't stress yourself now, Gojyo. You just got well from your sickness."  
  
"Maybe I should have made him a dead cockroach...!!" Sanzo muttered under his breath.  
  
Hakkai laughed louder and drove off towards the sunset with the noise of Goku and Gojyo's argument he had to admit he missed on the past few days.  
  
"URUSEI! SHINE!!!" Exorcism bullets echoed throughout the town outskirts.  
  
"Na, Sanzo! That nearly got me!"  
  
"Spoilsport bouzu!"  
  
"URUSAIIII!!!!" Then there was the infamous whack.  
  
"Ite!!!"  
  
+owari~+ 


End file.
